"I normally would not bid on a hunt at auction, as the setting doesn't allow you to do the critical research beforehand. But when I saw that Mark Harrison was offering a hunt at the 2009 SCI Convention, I remembered reading an article by Greg Morton about Dry Creek Station and Harrison's operation guiding tahr hunts there. [Editor note: See Article ID 2160 in our online database.] Armed with the positive information I'd gotten from The Hunting Report, I felt confident bidding on the hunt."
Clark booked this hunt a year and a half in advance and stayed in regular contact with Harrison through e-mails, phone conversations and dinners at conventions.
When Dry Creek Station changed hands and Harrison's tahr hunting operation moved to nearby Lochaber Station, Harrison was upfront with Clark about the change and was confident that Clark would be happy with the hunt on Lochaber.
Because this was a family trip, with Clark's 15-year-old son, Kevin, also hunting, they timed the trip for the end of school, taking a chance that the weather would hold. While it was stormy for the first few days, the weather broke and cooperated for the rest of the trip.
Clark cautions that a hunter should be in decent shape for the tahr hunting at Lochaber: "There are roads in the drainages, but you do a lot of hiking up the hills. Harrison was very good at gentle motivation,' not haranguing us to get a move on before we'd lose the light, as some guides might do."
This turned into more than just a hunt for tahr. Clark also hunted at nearby Morevale, which had gently rolling hills compared to Lochaber's steeper terrain. He took a chamois there, and Kevin took an excellent red stag and........(continued)
